


Ice Cold

by Fox (Spacefoxen)



Series: Of Raccoons and Not Complete Dicks [3]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Cuddles, Gen, It's more like, Pre-Slash, cuddles for warmth, favorite trope, he just won't admit it, kinda sorta, life or death cuddles, not sure what else to tag this as, pre platonic romance, rocket is a softie, they're slowly getting their shit together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2018-03-04 17:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3075245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spacefoxen/pseuds/Fox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The team takes a vacation on a new planet without checking for anything life threatening. Things go south for Rocket and Peter when they go for a hike and get stuck in a nasty storm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trouble

**Author's Note:**

  * For [divisionten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/divisionten/gifts), [Growliere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Growliere/gifts).



> This wasn't going to be the next piece, but then it got fucking COLD here (woke up to 2 degrees temps outside) and I wish I had someone to cuddle up to right now. I'm surprised this got so long, and it's not even finished yet. I'll get the rest of it posted in a day or so after I write it.
> 
> I hope you like it!
> 
> (Also, this may or may not be posted with accompanying art later)

“It’ll be relaxin’ he said. We’ll have a good time, he said. Well you’re a flarking _liar_ , Quill! This ain’t relaxin’! This is the damn _opposite_ of relaxin’!”

Rocket was _pissed_. For once, they were planetside just for the sake of visiting; no mission, nothing to steal, no one to save, and no one to kill. It was supposed to be a vacation of sorts. The team had picked up a galactic travel guide for the pad devices when they were last on Xandar. At first, no one could agree on what planet to visit. Drax wanted to see big cities and metropolises; Gamora wanted somewhere tropical and full of sun; Quill had wanted someplace known for its food, while Groot wanted someplace serene. Rocket hadn’t cared.

To fix the problem, Quill had decided to set the guide to random. The planet or port that the travel guide stopped on would be their destination.

But because they were all a bunch of d’ast _idiots, no one_ had looked up anything about the planet the program stopped on, other than its known attractions, which, by the way, were _nil_ because this planet was a load of _crap_.

So, the team flew down to the planet’s surface. At first, it was great. They landed in a non-inhabited area, not wanting to draw attention (and trouble) to themselves for once. A huge lake, forests made up of bizarre trees and plants that bore fruit that Drax recognized and knew how to cook with. Too bad its apparent perfection was marred by the fact that the planet had a weird-ass climate and suffered from fucking _ice storms_ that blew in and out much like the dust storms on whatever-the-hell planet in Quill’s home system.

After checking out their immediate surroundings and setting up camp (is it still setting up camp when you’re still sleeping in a giant metal ship made for space?), Quill had had the bright idea to go on a jaunt through nature, intent on climbing an outcropping of rock he had seen as they had come in from a landing. Rocket ended up going with him, only because he was the only one unoccupied (and no one trusted Quill to not do anything stupid if he went alone); Groot wasn’t comfortable with being out of his pot for too long yet, and Gamora and Drax were busy making some sort of meal for the night. 

(Rocket was sure there was something going on between the two, but he wasn’t sure enough to bring it up yet. He liked his whiskers and tail where they were, thank you very much.)

Peter and Rocket had set off in the late morning, the twin suns a fair distance above the trees. Rocket had nagged and complained while Peter had kept up a steady stream of chatter, occasionally slipping into humming one of his dratted songs. It was actually somewhat…pleasant. At some point, Rocket had quieted down and climbed up onto Peter’s shoulder to look around and—though he’d never say so out loud—enjoy the peace and quiet.

Using his fancy terrain projector (Rocket just had to get his paws on that), Peter navigated them through the forest in the direction of the jutting rocks. When they stepped out from under the trees and got their first real look at the rocks, Quill let out a whoop of joy and ran right up to the cliff face and began to scale it, Rocket’s extra weight and clinging claws on his shoulders be damned. 

Rocket yelled at Quill and called him an idiot and a moron the entire time.

All this led up to Rocket’s current predicament.

There they were, standing at the top of this giant slab or rock in the middle of nowhere that Quill had scaled like some kind of freakish goat, looking at what was, even to Rocket’s stubborn nature, an incredible view. As they stared out into the distance, however, the horizon began to…blur. It fuzzed out, like someone was taking an old cloth and rubbing it over a smudge of grease. As they watched, confused, that blur drew closer; it was moving at an incredible speed. 

By the time either of them had realized what they were seeing, it was too late. The storm’s wind could already be felt as the temperatures plummeted from a comfortable level to freezing cold in seconds. 

They scrambled to get down the rocks as fast as they could and hoped the cloud of ice and bitter cold didn’t hit before they managed to get to the bottom. They didn’t even bother to think about getting back to the ship in time. 

“You’re never picking our vacation spots again, Quill!” Rocket continued yelling and cursing as one of his feet slipped.

“How is this my fault?!” Peter shot back, arms flailing to keep his balance. He chanced a look up at the sky line to see where the storm was at. His eyes widened. “Fuck, Rocket! We aren’t gonna make it down!” He shot over to where Rocket was and scooped him up, ignoring his furry companion’s screeches. “We’ll be faster like this. Climb onto my back and shoulders and hold on.”

Rocket did as told, realizing his pride was not important right now. Getting down from this rock, however, was.

After what felt like forever, the air getting colder and the wind roaring harder, they finally made it to the base of the protruding rocks. They ran, looking for a place to duck and cover for shelter. There weren’t many options, but they made due with a portion of rock that jutted out from the base and had a bit of an overhang. It was probably the best they could hope for.

No sooner had they hunched down in their newfound shelter, the winds picked up to a near deafening roar. The air was frigid cold, laced with chunks of ice and snow. Everything around them was whited out as the blizzard moved onward. There was no way they’d be able to make the trek back to the ship in these conditions.

Rocket fluffed out his fur as much as he could, glad for once for its insulation. His body temperature ran hotter than normal anyway, thanks to his cybernetic parts; he still felt the cold, but his fur and jumpsuit did a lot to keep out the worst of it, his body temperature helping, too. The only parts of him that were really feeling the chill were his metal augmentations on his chest and back; they were so cold that it was causing the skin around them to ache and burn. Rocket hoped he wouldn’t get frostbite.

Rocket stared out into white mess, unable to see anything more than a few feet out from their shelter. “Hey Quill, ya sure that guide thingy didn’t mention a thing about freak storms? Quill?” When Quill didn’t answer, Rocket turned to see what he was up to.

What he saw wasn’t something he expected to see, though it should have been obvious.

Quill had left the ship that day wearing a lightweight, sleeveless leather vest over a simple sleeved shirt. The weather had been mild when they left, with no indication that the temperatures might drop. This meant that Quill was completely unprepared for this type of cold. 

He sat huddled in on himself, arms wrapped around his chest and his legs brought up as tight as he could get them. He was already shivering, his teeth clacking together.

“Peter?”

Quill turned his head toward Rocket when Rocket began to move closer to him. “I’m f-ff-fine. It’s jus-s-t-t a lit-t-t-le cold.”

Rocket narrowed his eyes. “You are not fine, ya idiot! You’re lips are turning blue!” Rocket noted this last fact with wide eyes. That couldn’t be good. Not good at all. Rocket darted the rest of the distance over to Quill, eyes taking in everything. Not only were his lips blue, but his skin was also looking a bit paler than usual, with some areas taking on a distinct bluish tone as well. Quill’s usually lively brown eyes were dazed looking, verging on glassy.

This damn ice storm was not playing games.

Rocket huffed nervously. The winds and ice weren’t slacking at all, telling Rocket that the storm would last for an unknown amount of time. Quill didn’t have 30 minutes, let alone an unknown number of hours. Fuck.

Pulling out his communicator, Rocket quickly punched in the numbers that would connect him to the Milano. He doubted he’d connect enough to talk to someone directly, but he hoped they’d at least be able to hear him.

“Gamora, Drax. I hope you’re getting this. We’re got out in this d’ast storm. It’s fucking cold. I’m managing alright, but Quill….Peter’s not doing so well. He’s turning the same color as you, Drax. And he won’t stop shaking. The tracking is turned on on our comms, so come find us as soon as you can safely take off. Rocket out.”

Rocket went back to paying attention to Quill. His eyes were closed and his breathing was getting shallow, while his body continued to convulse in shivers. At least his body was still doing that. If he stopped shivering, Rocket wasn’t sure what would happen.

“Hey, Pete. Eyes open. Peter!” Rocket crawled up into Peter’s lap, between his crossed arms and drawn up legs. When Peter didn’t open his eyes, Rocket patted this cheek, trying to get his attention. “Peter! Look at me, bud.” He slapped Peter’s cheek a little harder.

“Mom? Why’s it so cold?” Peter mumbled around frozen lips.

Rocket began to panic. Hallucinating was not good. Not good at all. “No, you moron! It’s Rocket. Just open your damn eyes.” Rocket grabbed both sides of Peter’s head and shook it a little. Finally, Peter’s eyes cracked open, literally, as his eye lashes had begun to freeze his eyes shut.

“R’cket?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” Rocket looked into Peter’s eyes, noting how they were distant and unfocused. He had to do something.

“Alright Peter. This ain’t gonna mean a thing, but I don’t know how else to help.” It did, in fact, mean plenty, as Peter was one of Rocket’s best friends. He reached down and grabbed the hem of Peter’s shirt, glad that it was one of his less fitted ones. He pulled at it until Peter stiffly lifted his arms, then pulled the hem over his own head and down his back, snuggling up against Peter’s cold chest. He wished he was bigger, so he could envelop Peter in more warmth, but he wasn’t, so he did what he could. Peter brought his arms around Rocket, squeezing him tightly, body still racked in tremors.

Rocket kicked his cybernetics into high gear, increasing his body heat. It wasn’t something that he should be doing; it would drain him of his energy very quickly. But, it was a life or death situation right now, so Rocket was willing to risk it if it helped keep Peter from succumbing to hypothermia.

He popped his nose out of Peter’s shirt collar, tucking it up under his chin and ear.

“Stay with me, Pete.”


	2. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter wakes up warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Know how I said last chapter it was really cold here? Well, our heater broke! So it's been freaking COLD. I still can't feel my feet. I have two extra fluffy pairs of socks on.
> 
> Also, I have no idea what I am doing. I hope you enjoy, but if you don't, I won't blame you.

Peter woke up warm. He didn’t remember falling asleep or even going to his bunk. Actually… he couldn’t remember much of anything from the last day or so. 

He blinked his eyes open a couple of times, not wanting to move from the nice, warm cocoon he was enveloped in.

“Oh, good, you’re awake.”

Peter turned his head to the side. Gamora was sitting in a chair by his bedside, a mug of something steaming held in her hands.

“I don’t remember going to sleep?” Peter said, phrasing the statement like a question in hopes of getting some sort of explanation. He really didn’t like waking up without all of his memories.

When he tried to sit up to talk to Gamora properly, Peter noticed a weight on his chest. Glancing down, Peter frowned, confused. Rocket was curled up on his chest, the blanket covering the two of them together. Peter settled back down on his pillow and shot Gamora a look.

“What is going on? Why’s Rocket curled up on my chest? And why am I covered in a dozen blankets?”

Gamora just rolled her eyes and set the still steaming mug on a box by Peter’s bed; he could drink Drax’s tea later. 

“Are you sure you don’t remember anything from yesterday?” Gamora raised an eyebrow at Peter as his face scrunched up in thought.

“I remember…going out on a walk with Rocket. We went to that big pile of rocks a few miles out. I remember climbing it and then…” Peter’s eyes grew wide and he shot a look up at Gamora. “I remember that damn ice storm! What happened?”

Gamora sighed. “The storm blew in too fast for any of us to do anything. Drax and I sealed up the Milano and made sure her stabilizers were on. The wind was gusting pretty strong and the last thing we wanted was for her to flip onto her side. Groot started panicking because you and Rocket were still out. The three of us sat in the cockpit, hoping to hear from you while we watched the storm rage in. It was completely white outside in minutes.

“We did eventually hear from you guys. Well, Rocket.” Gamora reached over to the blankets Peter had unsettled and pulled them up until they were nearly over Rocket’s ears. “He was…not calm. You had already started to freeze. He said your skin was going the color of Drax’s. He told us to hurry and pick you guys up as soon as the storm passed. The message was full of static and kept cutting out, but we got enough of it to know things were serious.” Here, Gamora looked down at her hands, twisting her fingers together.

“When we were finally able to get to you guys, you weren’t doing to so well.” She looked between Rocket and Peter then, locking eyes with him as she continued. “Rocket had climbed into your lap and under you shirt to help provide body heat. You had started hallucinating and eventually passed out. Rocket…Rocket pushed his cybernetics to their max, causing his body temperature to increase and keep you both warmer for longer.”

Peter glanced at the sleeping raccoon. “Is he okay?”

“Yes. Exhausted, though. He wasn’t made to handle what he did. When we went to remove him so we could get you both into the ship safely, he snarled at us and wouldn’t let go, insisting you still had to be kept warm. Drax and I let him stay, even after he finally let himself pass out. He’s been sleeping since and none of us wanted to move him more than getting him out from under your shirt.

“He saved your life, Peter. The little amount of extra heat he was able to provide was probably the only thing that kept you from succumbing to hypothermia.” Gamora smiled crookedly. “Anyway, you should probably get back to sleep. Drax has the heat up in here, but if you’re still cold there are some extra blankets at the end of the bed for you. There will be food when you’re feeling up to it.”

As she got up to leave, Gamora ran her hand over Rocket’s ears, then leaned down to give Peter a kiss on the head.

“I’m glad you’re both okay.” She quietly left the room, dimming the lights and shutting the door as she left.

Peter turned his head back onto his pillow so he could look at Rocket, still asleep on his chest. He smiled a little, amused that such a ferocious and aggressive being could look so damn peaceful in sleep. Shifting around a little, Peter brought his arms up and around Rocket, pulling him close. 

The last time they had been laying like this, Rocket had come to Peter for comfort. Now, Peter was seeking comfort in Rocket.

Peter gently shifted Rocket until the little guy’s head was up on Peter’s shoulder rather than his chest. He buried his nose in the soft fur of Rocket’s face, breathing deep and so very grateful his friend had argued to go walking with him the other day.

“Peter, whatta doin’?” The soft mumble was right in Peter’s ear and he froze.

“Uh. Giving you a hug?”

Rocket huffed. “And that requires shoving your nose in my fur and getting you Terran stink all over me?”

“Uhhhh.”

“Whatever. Just quite moving and go back to sleep. Grab another blanket first though, it’s freaking cold.”

Peter grabbed a hold of Rocket and held him to his chest as he sat up to reach the stack of blankets Gamora had left for them. He pulled one up over them with one arm, the other holding Rocket as the raccoon held on to Peter’s shirt, nose tucked close under Peter’s ear.

Peter snuggled back down under the blankets and his furry teammate.

“Peter?” Rocket asked, just as Peter was about to go back to sleep.

“Hmm?”

“Next time we go on vacation and ya decide to going a flarking _nature walk_ , do your d’ast research on the planet, first!!”

“Yes, Rocket. Now go back to sleep. Stop yelling in my ear.”

“ _You_ go to sleep.” 

Peter smiled. The last comment was made in a sleepy huff, as though it was the last thing Rocket had energy left to say. It wasn’t even full of his usually heat; he just wanted the last word.

Peter closed his eyes, content, and went back to sleep.

Outside, the alien suns climbed to their zenith, the ice and snow brought on by the storm already melted and gone, as though the storm had never happened in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos make my day! Thanks for reading!
> 
> Find me at you-are-my-eucalyptus-tree on tumblr! Say hi!
> 
> Now to go to bed (like I should have done hours ago) and pile up blankets on myself. I wish I had a Rocket or a Peter or both to keep me warm, but I guess my stinky dog will have to do.
> 
> Edit: Now that I'm not half asleep, I've noticed Peter does a lot of waking up warm....oops!
> 
> (New headcanon: When Peter was little and on the ravagers' ship, he could never keep warm. They didn't provide quite enough blankets and it wasn't until he was seen as officially one of them that he got his big red coat. Now, Peter does all he can to stay warm and it's his favorite way to start a day.)


End file.
